HÀ NỘI — The parking lot in front of the National Institute of Mental Health of Hà Nội-based Bạch Mai Hospital will remain open, a hospital representative told local media.

There were plans to close the parking lot at the beginning of this month.

Doctor Dương Đức Hùng, head of the hospital’s Planning Division, said the hospital decided to extend the closing date of the parking lot until alternative parking areas were approved to help solve difficulties of hospital visitors in finding parking lots although the extension will affect the hospital’s infrastructure upgrade progress.

Last month, the hospital closed its largest parking lot near the Health Examination Department to build a daytime centre for health examinations and treatment.

This caused chaos in front of the hospital as thousands of people struggled to find an alternative space to park their vehicles.

Đống Đa District’s People’s Committee and Bạch Mai Hospital proposed to the city’s authorities to use pavements along Giải Phóng Street, area under the nearby Ngã Tư Vọng flyover or empty space inside the Hà Nội University of Science and Technology as parking lots, according to Hà Anh Tuấn, head of Đống Đa District’s urban management division.

“However, until now, we have not received any response from the municipal People’s Committee and transport department,” he said.

Earlier last month, representatives of the hospital apologised to hospital visitors for closing the hospital’s largest parking lot, causing inconvenience to visitors. They requested the public’s cooperation and suggested people use public transport to visit the hospital.

According to the plan, the hospital will close its parking lots in some two years, by which construction of the nine-floor centre is expected to be completed, which will be able to serve up to 8,000 patients per day. There will be three ground floors for parking lots.

Bạch Mai Hospital, the largest general hospital in the north, receives some 6,000 people for health examinations, 4,000 inpatients and thousands of visitors every day. The number of motorbikes parked at the hospital can reach up to 2,000 to 3,000 per day. — VNS